Tench on the float: baits, swims and patience

What you need

• Pole: a 4-6 m telescopic pole-style rod without rings, for fishing next to the weed; or a 3.6-4.2 m float (match) rod with a reel.
• Line: 0.18-0.22 mm monofilament with a 0.14-0.18 mm hooklength: tench run for the weed and need stronger line than Prussian carp.
• Float: a slim 1-4 g float with a fine antenna, shotted so the bait sits on the bottom.
• Hook: size 10-14, forged from thick wire, plus split shot.
• Accessories: a plummet for finding the depth, a fine-mesh landing net, polarised glasses.

Baits

• Worms and maggots: the most reliable baits for tench.
• Sweetcorn, soft pellets and paste, on lakes where the fish are used to them.
• Fine, dark groundbait with cooked hemp, maggots and chopped worms; tench will stay a long time on a small bed of feed.

When to fish

• From late spring until early autumn, when the water is warm; on natural waters, tench also have their own closed season in summer (the dates are below).
• The best times: dawn and the morning, until the heat of the day, then the evening.
• Warm, overcast days with settled weather; in a cold wind, tench bite poorly.

Where are you fishing

• Ponds, quiet lakes, canals and oxbows with lots of vegetation and a silty bottom.
• The edges of lilies and reeds, the gaps between plants and channels of open water, in 0.8-2 m of water.
• Fine, small bubbles rising from the same spot often show a tench rooting about on the bottom.

Step by step

1. 1

   Choose your swim. Look for an edge of lilies or reeds with open water in front of it and check the depth with the plummet.

2. 2

   Set the float. The bait has to lie on the bottom: set the float 5-10 cm deeper than the water and shot it so only a little of the antenna shows.

3. 3

   Feed a little. Put in a few small balls of groundbait with particles on exactly the same spot; no more than that to start with.

4. 4

   Be patient. Tench come to the feed slowly; sometimes hours pass before the first bite, and bubbles over the groundbait tell you they've arrived.

5. 5

   Strike when the float moves off. Don't strike at the trembles: wait for the float to lie flat or move off positively to one side or under.

6. 6

   Keep it out of the weed. Tench pull hard for the weed: keep the rod low and to the side, and get the fish into open water as fast as you can.

Common mistakes

• The bait held above the bottom: tench feed almost entirely on the bottom.
• Striking at the first movements of the float, before the tench has taken the bait.
• Line that's too thin: the tench gets into the weed and breaks the rig.
• Too much groundbait, which fills up the fish in the swim.
• Arriving at the lake at midday, after the tench have stopped feeding.

Frequently asked questions

Step-by-step guides

• Rig guide: Sliding float (waggler)
• Groundbait and recipes: Particles: prepared maize and hemp
• Releasing fish properly: The golden rules

Fishing for tench by county

Other fishing techniques

• Feeder fishing
• Carp on the method feeder
• Carp on boilies
• Spinning for pike
• Zander on the jig
• Perch on the micro-jig
• Trout on spinners
• Prussian carp on the float
• Wels catfish with the clonk
• Spinning for chub
• Asp on crankbaits
• Bream on the feeder
• Barbel on the feeder
• Ice fishing
• Fishing from a boat
• Homemade groundbait
• Pike on fish baits
• Perch on the drop shot
• Fly fishing
• Catfish from the bank